


Gotcha!

by Lede



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25168144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lede/pseuds/Lede
Summary: “I’m in love with you.” He admits.Ingrid’s mouth drops. She doesn’t say anything for what feels like an eternity to him. He quickly puts back on his easy-going facade, throwing his hands behind his back carelessly.“Just kidding. I gotcha, didn’t I?”
Relationships: Ingrid Brandl Galatea/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	Gotcha!

Breaking up with that girl from last month and not dating anyone after that made Sylvain realize he was desperately in need of new hobbies. Ingrid was extremely grateful for his restraint as of late, going so far to congratulate him for finally giving up his indecent flirtations. It wasn’t that he willingly decided to stop flirting with girls. It just no longer felt fun. Sure, he still threw out a suggestive line here and there, but not enough for it to still be a habit of his.

At first, he wondered why. The girls he’d dated were beautiful and fun to kiss. Nowadays, although the girls were still beautiful, any physical intimacy felt uncomfortable and it was impossible for him to use the word “love”, despite how eagerly he threw that word around in the past.

It was a scary idea. Despite Sylvain’s talk about romance and knowledge about pick-up lines, he’s never actually fell for anyone. Falling for his best friend increased his fear of this idea.

Sylvain sighs, picking up some of the flowers bedded in the grass he was sitting in, only to throw those flowers back to the ground. _What am I doing_? Even the professor, who was often annoyed by his attempts to flirt with her, was concerned when he stopped his salacious behavior.

“Sylvain.” That confrontational voice he’s grown to cherish awakens him from his thoughts. “What are you doing? You keep coming out at night on an open field to do absolutely nothing.”

“Good question. It’s what I was thinking, really.” He stands up, his white shirt likely hanging a bit too little and his black night shorts clinging to his sides too loosely. Ingrid is more properly dressed, wearing her usual set of armor for her falcon knight and having a lance attached to her left hip.

“Why’d you come here in full armor? Nobody’s awake.” He questions. On the off chance there was a bandit nearby, Ingrid’s superior prowess in battle would outmatch them.

“Arrogance is deadly. One must be prepared for the worst-case scenario at all times.” Her answer was generic, exactly what he expected.

“Relax. No one dangerous is coming here.” Looking down at her, he notices something different. She hadn’t bothered to put her hair up in any of her usual braids. “I haven’t seen your hair down in a while now. You should do that more often. It’s cute.”

Ingrid groans, staring into his eyes with obvious annoyance.

“Sorry. It’s habit.” He scratches his head and starts to backpedal. “I-I mean, you are actually cute. Not as a flirting thing or any thing like that thing─ I mean, like that─”

“Stop.” She holds up at hand to shush him. Her irritation turns into concern. “Sylvain, you’ve been acting odd lately. What’s wrong? I’m almost starting to miss your more offensive behavior.”

Her response makes him chuckle. She always had trouble relaxing. Butting in on others’ affairs has always been, for better or for worse, one of her go-to activities. “Almost? I could only flirt with you.”

She groans again, and Sylvain curses the reputation he built as being a philanderer. “Forget I said that. Let’s go back to base.” His affections have started to slip into their conversations, but if he had to talk to her more in his somewhat drowsy state he feared he’d say too much, enough that she couldn’t brush it off as meaningless.

“No.” Her annoyance is again replaced by worry. “Answer me, Sylvain. Did I do something wrong?”

“Nope!” Sylvain exclaims loudly. He lowers his voice again for his following words. “Not at all. Nothing has changed.”

“You’re lying.” She accuses, confident in her viewpoint. “I’ve known you for too long. I know when something is troubling you.”

“Sorry. You’re right.” He says nothing afterward, trying to create a good lie yet having nothing to say.

“Just tell me─”

“I’m in love with you.” He admits.

Ingrid’s mouth drops. She doesn’t say anything for what feels like an eternity to him. He quickly puts back on his easy-going façade, throwing his hands behind his back carelessly.

“Just kidding. I gotcha, didn’t I?”

Ingrid punches his stomach. Thankfully, she didn’t bring her armored gloves. “Ouch! I’m s-sorry, I shouldn’t toy─” He stops when he looks at her solemn face.

“That would explain things.” She looks down at the ground. Ingrid was always the smart one in the trio of himself, her, and Felix. “Felix was saying you kept dating women with similar physical characteristics as myself. He argued with me, saying that you were projecting.”

“Heh, I thought I told him not to tell anyone about that.” He stops pretending, his voice not hiding the sadness he felt. “Forget it. It doesn’t matter.”

“I… share your sentiment. The part about ‘love’, I mean.” She says in a quiet voice. Sylvain starts to beam, but his joy is starkly ended by her next words. “But… how can I trust you? I can’t tell when your dalliances are authentic, and I’ve known you my whole life.”

“I get if you don’t want to do anything with me because of my… reputation.” He resists the urge to kick himself in the leg. Ingrid did tell him that his actions would come back to bite him someday. In a way, it always did; making genuine friends was near impossible for him given his notorious reputation. “But I meant what I said. I’ll be loyal if you trust my word. Promise.”

Ingrid stares at him, checking his face for any dishonesty. She then smiles lightly. “If you cheat on me, I reserve the right to chop off your head.”

“Duly noted. I’ll hold you to it.” He winks at her, afterward returning her smile. They stare at each other awkwardly, smiling and doing nothing else. All the experience he had with dating and being ‘smooth’ was reduced to nonexistence. “Um… what do couples do, anyway?”

“Ironic, coming from you.” Carefully, she takes his hand. Her gloves got in the way of contact, but it did feel nice. “We’ll figure it out. Together.”

“Yes.” He agrees, squeezing her hand. “Together.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing either of these characters. I hope I did them justice!
> 
> That new summer FEH banner renewed my Sylvgrid brain worms. They deserved a better ending.


End file.
